I just never got into watching Dexter. I didn't get the movie channels until this year, anyway, and am still trying to watch some network shows (although it is very nice not having 5 commercial breaks in every episode!)

NCIS won't be the same without Ziva David. That group has been together for eight years; the only one that could be replaced without harming the group dynamic is Vance. Evidently the contract dispute was simply that Cote de Pablo didn't sign -- because she wanted to leave the show. But I wonder why. I haven't read anything about any big offer she's received to star in her own show or make movies or recordings. Or maybe she has and just hasn't talked about it yet. Everyone is being so dang polite! Of course there are rumors about why she's leaving, but that's to be expected, I guess. Ziva is going to be an impossible act to follow; I don't envy whoever replaces her.

I'd like to put in a word for Longmire. True, it's cowboys and Indians, but not like the old shoot'em-ups at all; they're mystery/crime stories. It's all low key, Caucasians and Cheyenne sharing a living space in Wyoming. Very strong sense of place. The stories are different from the usual TV crime fare. For instance, one episode featured the murder of an Indian who was a high-ranking member of the tribe's governing council. It turned out that by manipulation and tricks (calling an emergency meeting when some council members were out of town), he was able to push through a new law raising the percentage of Cheyenne blood required to be a recognized member of the tribe. The result of that new law was that sixty tribe members were disenfranchised, and the result of THAT was that the take from the new casino wouldn't have to be divided among so many people. Sheriff Longmire investigated in his quiet way (I've never heard him raise his voice), learning a little bit at a time why the Indian was killed. Good episode.

Yeah, that was a good one. So was the one about cattle rustling, modern style. One of the characters said something like "Everybody thinks cattle rustling is a joke. It ain't a joke. It ruins people's lives." I like flashy high-tech adventure stories, and Longmire is just the opposite of that...and I like it, a lot. The terrain in the show is so rugged that if they didn't have computers and cell phones and TV sets, you'd think you were back in the days of Wyatt Earp.